The present invention relates to food products and to their apparatus for and methods of preparation. More particularly, the present invention relates to intermediate moisture food products such as dried fruit pastes or fruit flavored confections and to their apparatus for and methods of preparation.
Wholesome snacks prepared from sweetened intermediate moisture shelf stable fruit or “fruit snacks” herein have expanded their popularity as food items. These dried fruit products are especially popular with children, particularly as snack or convenience foods. Their popularity has created a highly competitive marketplace. To appeal to children, the primary consumer of fruit snacks, manufacturers must introduce frequent changes to these products. New shapes, colors, textures and flavors are all avenues employed to successfully market these products. To create unique fruit snack shapes, some manufacturers have changed their products to resemble popular characters from movies, television shows, cartoons, etc. To fully appreciate the need for new fruit snack shapes, it is important to understand the wide variety of fruit snacks currently available.
Broadly, fruit snacks are prepared from wet mixtures of the various fruit materials, added ingredients and extra water that are cooked and worked at elevated temperatures and then dried to desired moisture contents to form hot plastic paste or fluid formable fruit masses. The formable fruit masses are then formed into articles of desired shapes and sizes.
Fruit snack compositions are sold in various physical forms and shapes such as: 1) in rolled sheet form; 2) in rolled strip form; 3) in string form mounted on a U-board; 4) soft center filled pieces, and 5) in gelled bite size pieces of various shapes or in gelled bite size piece forms prepared by starch molding. The products are typically packaged in a moisture impermeable container such as a flexible laminated film pouch fabricated to include a moisture barrier layer.
A particularly popular fruit snack available in rolled sheet form is sold under the FRUIT ROLL-UPS brand. Popular products in rolled strip form are sold under the FRUIT BY THE FOOT brand (see for example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,053 entitled “Rolled Food Item” issued Oct. 3, 1995). Food products in string form mounted on a U-board were sold under the STRING THING® mark. While other products in bite size pieces of various shapes are sold under various brands. (See, for example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,268 entitled “Embossed Shape Food Item” issued Aug. 24, 1999 to Zimmermann et al.). Soft center filled pieces products are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,236 entitled “Dual Textured Food Piece Of Enhanced Stability Using An Oil In Water EMULSION” (issued Mar. 18, 1988 to Langler et al.) while apparatus and fabrication methods therefor are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,059 entitled “Dual Textured Food Piece Fabrication Apparatus” (issued Jun. 10, 1992 to Dubowik et al.).
In other variations, all or a portion of the fruit material is substituted with pure sugars to provide confections. Such low fruit, high sugar formulations can be flavored with fruit flavors and/or other flavors. Within this general similarity, however, the particular methods of preparation, product formulations and apparatus used to prepare particular products vary considerably. Moreover, such variations are highly interdependent. Formulations and method steps suitable for one product form might or might not be suitable for another product form. Also, such products can be fortified with vitamins and minerals, especially calcium for growing children.
The variety of fruit snack shapes including applying character attributes introduce an element of fun or fantasy to the eating experience described as play value. Play value as it relates to fruit snacks is the ability to manipulate a product in a fun or amusing manner. In its more imaginative form, play value entails shaping or coloring a product to represent an unusual object that relies upon the child to discover a use or method to disassemble the product before consumption. The more discoveries built into a fruit snack, the greater the amusement and appreciation by children. The interaction of two or more food pieces is especially amusing when disassembly can easily be achieved and it yields an unexpected result.
One manner of creating play value is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,233, which has achieved considerable market success. In the '233 patent, a low resolution image (using edible ink) is applied to the support material. Thereafter, hot fruit material is applied to the support material to overlay upon the printed image. The image transfers from the support material to stick to the inner surface of the fruit layer. When the cooled fruit layer is removed from the support material for consumption, the image is on the fruit. The image can be transferred from the fruit layer to a wet surface, e.g., a child's tongue, hence the colloquial name of “Tongue Tattoo” technology.
While useful, for an event, typically roll stock with printed images are prepared/printed in advance and stored in inventory. Often, excessive roll stock or insufficient rollstock is made for a promotional event. The extra rollstock is then discarded as waste.
The present invention is directed toward those articles and improvements in the apparatus for and methods of preparation of the hot plastic paste or fluid formable masses such as fruit pastes and their formation into various suitable shaped and sized pieces. In view of the current state of the intermediate moisture food art, there is a continuing need for new and improved formulations and methods for preparing intermediate moisture shaped food products. As an example, in the current invention, the special roll stock of U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,233 is no longer needed. The image is printed directly onto the outer surface of the fruit layer. Extra or insufficient rollstock problems are avoided at great savings to inventory costs.